This Is Not Your Destiny
by kurisu christina
Summary: Based on "Medallion" promo. Cassie tries to deal with her dark magic and Jake comforts her. NOW A SERIES OF ONESHOTS
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Secret Circle (or "Family Tree"). If I did Cassie and Jake would be together by now, and so would Adam and Diana.**

**A/N: So this got stuck in my head after I listened to "Family Tree" by Matthew West and the new promo. Cassie and Jake kissing? SO HOT! I can't wait for the next episode. Anyway, just my version of that, plus some rambling. I read the wiki for the next episode, "Medallion", and it says that Cassie finds out something about witch hunters—going to disregard that in this oneshot—and realized her true feeling**

_You didn't ask for this_

_Nobody ever would_

_Caught in the middle of this dysfunction_

_It's your sad reality_

_It's your messed up family tree_

_And all you're left with are all these questions_

I walked slowly to the abandoned house, clutching the metal disk in my hand. It was my father's medallion. He was alive, and he hadn't come back for me. I wondered what it all meant, especially what the medallion was.

After we dug up my father's grave, I had stood silently as Jake filled it back in. I didn't dare say anything, and he respected that. We had walked in silence all the way back to my house, and then I had gone in and gone to bed. I had gone to the window a few times and seen him there, staring up at me, but he didn't come to the door.

I hoped he wouldn't be there as I walked to the edge of the woods and entered the clearing around the abandoned house. Jake was so complicated, and though he knew about dark magic I wasn't sure if I could be around him and be able to listen to what he said. I still had so much to figure out about Jake and Adam.

I ducked into the doorway and listened for any noise. "Hello?" Nothing. "Anyone here?"

I grabbed the few books on black magic I could find, along with Adam's computer, and settled on a couch. The books came up dry, and I was surfing through the most ridiculous sites I had ever seen when I finally couldn't concentrate any more. Adam and Jake were the only things left in my head.

Adam. He had been there since the first day, rescuing me from the burning car when I had been so sure I would die like my Mom had. I had been sure they would be saying to my Grandma what they said to me: _"She didn't get out, she didn't get out, she was trapped in the fire."_ All the sympathy that I knew was contrived because the firemen had seen too much for one death to be a big thing. _She didn't get out._ Four crippling words that had threatened to break my glass bubble, my safe place. They did, too, but I built it back up in a month.

Adam was also the one that always showed up to save me. He pulled me away from crazed revenge-givers and made sure that I wasn't afraid of my dark magic. He didn't laugh at my fear of needles.

Jake was another story. I knew he was wild and uncontrolled and unreliable, but I could see in his eyes how much he cared. Besides, Adam had Diana. I knew they needed to be together. I saw how much he was hurting without her and it hurt me because I was his friend. Jake was more dangerous than my usual type, and that made him interesting. The way he had pulled me in close after he Fred me from the room in his memory… I knew he cared.

And then I had woken up to find Adam rubbing my back in soothing circles, finding out later that he was the one that had helped me breathe when I was choking. It was too hard to see who I should be with.

I heard someone's footsteps outside and froze. Normally I would call out to see who it was, but paranoia was getting the best of me. I stayed where I was, assured that I could protects myself. When I saw Jake's blond head emerge below—I was up near the ceiling, on the balcony-like floor—I relaxed and went back to my internet surfing.

"Looking for information on your father?" Jake asked from behind me, and I felt the couch shift as he sat next to me. "You won't find it there."

"I can't find it here either." I said, gesturing at the various spellbooks. 'If you know anything, please enlighten me."

He smiled at my frustration. "I'm sure your Dad's not going anywhere anytime soon, Cassie. Why don't you focus on you dark magic first?"

I sighed. "I don't want to. Maybe I don't want any dark magic… ever." He just kept looking at me, like he was sizing me up. "You know? I want normal magic. I don't want evil magic."

"This isn't about your magic." He stated.

I shook my head and put Adam's computer aside so I could face Jake. "No, it's not. I don't want dark magic like my dad had because i don't think I want to be him. He… he killed people. I saw it, he burned at least three people just by holding out this medallion." I tugged at the chain around my neck. "_I've_ killed people. I killed the witch hunter that was going to kill me."

"That was self-defense, Cassie, you didn't mean to—"

"I don't care!" I said. I jumped up when Jake put a hand on my knee. "I don't care what it was or whether I meant to do it, I did it and nothing can change that. I killed someone, Jake, and if I take after my dad it means I could do worse."

_Are you gonna be like your father was, or his father was?_

_Do you have to carry what they've handed down?_

Jake stood too, and took one of my hands. "No, you won't. You care too much.

"You don't understand!" I yelled, suddenly furious at him. "You don't know what it felt like, what the power was like. I don't want to be evil! I don't want to be my dad."

I felt like a horrible daughter when I said it, but it was true. I had only known my mom, and I loved her. I wanted to be like her; kind, gentle, good. I didn't want to end up like my dad, not caring about some child I had loved before… if he had ever loved me.

"Cassie—"

"Just stop!" I wrenched my hand from his grasp and ran down the stairs, into the main room. I had no idea where I was going. I stopped in a less cluttered place, by a window, and stood there hugging my sides.

Jake followed, as always. "You're shaking."

"I'm fine." I snapped.

"Cassie, just because your dad might have had dark magic and done some things that weren't right doesn't mean you'll be like him. You're different." Said Jake.

I gulped. "Why didn't he save my mom? Where was he when the house was burning down, huh? Where was he when she needed him?"

Jake looked like he would cry any minute. "I don't know, Cassie, maybe he didn't know. Maybe he still doesn't know."

I started to cry. "He doesn't love me or mom. He doesn't love anyone. He's a soulless witch and if I'm not careful the magic will get to me and I'll be as bad as he is! I don't want to be like that, Jake, I don't want it!"

He closed the space between us and brought me into his arms. "Hey, Cassie, it's okay, you can be anyone you want… I promise. You can be whoever you want. I won't let you become evil, I promise." He was like a little child making impossible promises, and I loved him for it.

_No, this is not you legacy_

_This is not your destiny_

_Yesterday does not define you_

_This is not your legacy_

_This is not your meant to be_

_I can break the chains that bind you_

I finally got control over the sobs wracking my body and pulled away to look at his face. Jake was so earnest. He looked ready for anything, and I trusted him to keep his word. "Thanks you."

"Yeah… no problem."

I knew what was about to happen; we would stare, it would get awkward, and he would back away. Back into the friends-but-maybe-something-more zone with Adam.

The problem was I didn't want him there.

"I should go." He began to say, but I cut him off with a kiss.

His lips were soft like I remembered from the lake house, but the lack of alcohol made it so much better. I kept my lips closed for all of five seconds before I reluctantly opened it, but I didn't regret it. Jake was passionate, gentle, and he was _amazing._ Better than the few guys I had been with in high school.

He leaned forward just slightest, and I carefully dropped to a sitting position on the floor. He was lazier now, taking his time to make me crazy. I slowly made my way on top of him and was starting to get things serious again when I heard footsteps and pulled away.

Adam was standing in the doorway, face blazing with fury. "What the hell is going on?"

And as much as I still cared for him, I felt my heart get lighter. There wasn't even a speck of guilt on my conscience.

I loved Jake.

**A/N: Liked my take on the next episode's scene? Huh? HUH? Then you should review!**

**Pretty please?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I was so surprised by all the reviews, and almost everyone that did review wanted me to continue this or do a new Cassie/Jake story. **

**Well, your wish has been granted :) or something like that**

**So this is just my rambling, confused version of the last episode, but with Jake getting possessed and Cassie saving him. And Adam not being there. **

**WHY DID THEY HAVE TO KISS? WHY? I guess Adam's nice enough, but… NO! He should be with Diana!  
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**Grrrrrr…**

Cassie's POV

As soon as the car stopped moving and my heart stopped pounding out of my chest I pried myself from the shattered window on the driver's side and unbuckled. The window above looked safe enough, all the glass broken away**, **so I righted myself shakily and grabbed the edge. It took a few tried, but I managed to climb from the car and out onto the road.

The guy who had been following me this time was going to pay.

He was standing a ways away, in the grass. "Hey!" I yelled, hoping he would at least say something. "HEY!"

When he vanished, I ran to the fence and crawled underneath, then raced to where he had stood before. I was going to get answers this time.

Jake's POV

Cassie wasn't answering her cell phone, and she couldn't at Diana's. Not that I thought she was—after all, I had kind of promised I would take her somewhere.

When I reached Diana's house (it wouldn't hurt to check) Faye answered the door, looking murderous. "What do you want? This is a no-boys slumber party."

"Is Cassie here?"

Faye's eyes grew even angrier at the name Cassie. "I don't know."

Melissa came running to the door, stopping short when she saw me. "You're not a hot pizza guy." She pouted.

I rolled my eyes. "Do _you _know where Cassie is?"

"No." said Melissa. "Shouldn't you be out with her?"

I nodded. "I can't find her, and she won't answer her cell phone."

"Oh, I guess she got over you already." Faye taunted. "So leave."

She promptly slammed the door in my face and I could here her footsteps as she stormed away. It sounded like a lot of giggling was coming from inside the house, most likely Melissa. She had been acting strange.

I got in my car and began to drive aimlessly, headed in the general direction of the boathouse grill. I knew Cassie didn't like Adam, but she did hang out at the grill often. For no particular reason, I decided to take one of the longer routes, the one past an old church.

As I was driving a huge, deathly white object loomed in the distance. At first it looked like an oddly-shaped snow bank, but as I got closer I saw I was a white car flipped on its side, and that it was familiar. It wasn't until I was feet away that I saw the silly flower-shaped car freshener hanging in the windshield that I realized it was Cassie's car. As soon as I realized it was her, car, I stopped and ran to it as fast as I could.

"Cassie! Cassie!" no one responded. I scrambled to the window and looked in but saw no one. "CASSIE!"

My heart slowed for a second, though I knew she might have been kidnapped by whoever had been following her. It had to be that stupid ghost, and that stupid haunted church. I took off in the direction of the church, noting the tiny footprints in the sugar-coating of snow on the ground.

Cassie's POV

I took a few hasty breaths as I looked around for the robed man, and I spotted him through trees and brush and snow. He wasn't just going to get away without an explanation. "HEY!" I screamed, the cold air rushing into my lungs as my raw throat struggled to make sound. "STOP! Hey, stop! Who are you?"

He vanished, and I stumbled to the spot where he stood. Was he going to keep doing this until I died from exhaustion? It would work if I kept tearing through the woods like a rabid dog.

Finally I broke into a clearing and saw a huge, gloomy church. Perfect for a ghost to live in. Without a thought of danger or fear I ran to the intricately carved stone entrance and ran inside.

It was a lot darker than I thought it would be, and the floorboards creaked with every other step. When I made my way into the main room I could barely see to the ceiling, it was so enormous. A cloud of dust hung over everything.

"Where are you?" I asked hesitantly. I tried to be louder. "Who are you? Why are you following me?"

At first there was no answer, no sound, no movement, when I heard a rustle and saw the man standing a few feet away. EH started towards me, making me gulp. "I just w-wanted to know why you wanted this." I gripped the medallion at my neck. "We're all friends here… right?"

A silent companion joined him. I noticed another skulking around the area where I had come in. They were joined by at three other robed men. "Hey, I get it—you're here because of tortured souls and medallions and Blackwell…" I trailed off, starting to panic as they slowly but surely closed in and kept me cornered. "Stop…. Stop!"

"Cassie!"

"Jake?" I looked around wildly for the voice I had been longing to hear ever since my car had flipped. "Help!"

He was at the entrance, ready to fling himself at the men, when they started to converge on him instead of me. "Cassie, run!" he shouted, holding them at bay with a pocket knife.

I shook my head and cautiously started down the aisle. If I could get close enough maybe I could injure them with my medallion like I had done when the Circle tried to activate it. "I won't."

He glared, but in the deep frown I saw a flash of pride. I was a fighter. I wouldn't run away and leave him alone.

I was tensing, ready to test the ghost theory, when all of them sank into their robes and disappeared. I turned with the words, _"Ding dong, the witch is dead." _on my lips when I saw Jake's face.

He was twitching like he'd been hit with a tazer, and his face twisted into a cruel smile. His eyes were white. "Give us the medallion." He hissed, voice scratchy and hoarse. I shook my head again. He laughed. "Give it to us… or we will hurt him."

"No." I said. "I won't unless you tell me why you want it."

His eyes were devilish as he—no, they—held the knife to Jake's wrist and cut into it, leaving a fine red line. "Give it to me."

I just stood there as they cut into Jake's wrist again, deeper this time. I shuddered. What other option did I have, anyway? I couldn't take them all on by myself… or could I?

I clenched the medallion in my hand. "Let. Him. Go."

They shook Jake's head.

I closed my hand on it, harder and harder. The metal was digging into my hand and I could feel the blood dripping through my fingers. I gritted my teeth in pain and focused on the medallion and the men possessing Jake. _Leave. Him. Alone._

At _alone _the medallion imploded in my hand and imbedded metal shards in my skin. I didn't cry out, just opened my fist and let them see the remains of the medallion. Jake's eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped onto the floor.

Pain forgotten, I ran to him and threw my arms around him. "Jake!"

"…. Cassie?" he sounded like he was just waking up. I pulled away and saw a dawning horror in his face. "Oh no…. oh no!"

I knew he was afraid he had hurt me. "It's okay, it's okay." I assured him. "They're gone. I made them leave."

He nodded fervently as I did. He was so scared. I drew him close and held him in my arms, where he knew he was safe. "Shhhh Jake I'm fine. I'm fine… it's you we have to fix." I brushed his face gently and took his injured wrist. "They kinda got you."

"I'm fine." He said, repeating my words. He seemed to snap out of his fear-induced trance. "We should get out of here before they come back."

"If they come back." I reminded him, holding the crushed medallion up for him to see. He gasped. "What?"

"Your hand, you hurt it—!" exclaimed Jake, taking my hand gently, like it was breakable. Bits of metal were imbedded in my skin and ugly red lines marked it, oozing blood. I swallowed the nauseous feeling in my middle down.

"Never mind, Jake, we should leave like you said." I said. I jerked my hand away and then took his with my good hand so I could force him upright. After a second's hesitation he got up and ran out after me.

We raced back through the forest, now coated with snow—it seemed odd, especially in February—and to the road. I sighed with relief when I saw his car. I couldn't see any reason why he would walk here, but I had _not_ wanted to walk home.

When we got in the car he started rummaging through piles of unidentifiable things in the backseat. "Jake, what are you doing? We should just go."

"Here." He pressed a white cloth to my hand.

I blushed at the unusually kind gesture, even for Jake. "Thanks." Granted, he had helped me go through the denial over my father, but he was always switching from hot to cold. For the past few days he had been moody and drawn away from me even though I tried everything I could to make him know he was wanted.

We finally pulled to a stop at my house, and Jake made me run to the door in case anyone or anything had followed. Once we were safely inside he kept checking the windows and doors, nearly feverish with energy. I almost wanted to laugh though I knew he was doing it to protect me.

"I think we're safe." He said at last. He came over to me and took my injured hand again. "You have bandages upstairs, in the bathroom?"

I smiled, teasing, "Well, my grandmother _is _a nurse, so…"

"I got it."

If needles were bad, tiny pieces of metal in my skin were worse. Jake put up with my whimpering and accidentally hitting him—twice—before we were finished, and then he let me wrap the cuts on his wrist. I collapsed on my bed, exhausted.

"Sorry I'm such a baby." I murmured, curling up at his side when he joined me.

He kissed my head. He definitely wasn't cold today. "You're not a baby."

"Am so." I argued halfheartedly. "And I'm scared of everything." I could still see Jake being forced to cut into his wrists and shivered convulsively.

"What's wrong?" he asked at once. I shrugged. "Did I say something when I was possessed?"

"No." I said. "It's just that… you were cutting your wrists. It scared me a lot, that's all, because when my mom died…" I gulped. "It was bad. I wanted to hurt myself, take the blame somehow, and I nearly did. I can't go near needles or knives or anything sharp anymore, it freaks me out. It's like my insides freeze and my heart stops and I can't move."

Jake was silent for a long time. "And yet when I was talking to Adam he said it was just a quirky thing." He sounded angry, like Adam should have never brushed it off as silly.

"I didn't tell him why I hated needles." I said. I pressed closer to him and breathed in his warm, comforting scent. "I didn't think he needed to know."

"Why not?"

"You know why."

He nodded, chin bumping my head. "Because it's personal, and it's scary to let someone see that much of you."

"I guess." _Because I don't love him like I love you._

I laid there for the longest time, watching the stars on my ceiling swirl into black oblivion. Jake didn't comment on them, but I knew he could see them too. I wished I could stay with him forever, just like this; so close I could feel his heartbeat, hear his breathing, be in his skin. My fingers were entwined in his, and I could feel the flutter of a pulse in them as mine became the same and beat in harmony to his. My eyelids closed, too heavy to hold, and I was safe.

**A/N: So, so cheesy. But I try, I really do.**


End file.
